Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus for opening and closing a tailgate for a vehicle. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus for opening and closing a tailgate for a vehicle, which has a simplified and improved structure so as to allow a latch to engage with a striker by operating a cinching cable by using a single motor, and/or to allow the latch to disengage from the striker by operating a release lever by operating a release cable.
Background Art
A trunk for a vehicle or a tailgate for a SUV is closed when a latch engages with a striker provided at a vehicle body side by a motor, or opened when a release lever is operated and the latch disengages from the striker.
As an example of this technology, Korean Patent No. 10-0654066 (issued on Nov. 29, 2006) discloses an electric structure for releasing a tailgate latch for a vehicle, which is installed in the tailgate latch for a vehicle, and forcedly switches a pawl that restricts a latch gear by an operation of an actuator, thereby releasing the striker by switching the latch gear.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,556 (issued on Jan. 13, 2014) discloses a motor device for actuating a vehicle door operation device and a vehicle door closer device. The device includes an output shaft connected to a latch operation device that operates a latch having an engagement-disengagement block. The block may engage with one of the gears that constitute a part of a planetary gear device, and a motor which generates rotational torque.
As an example of an apparatus for opening and closing a trunk or a tailgate in the related art, Korean Patent No. 10-1326535 (issued on Nov. 1, 2013), as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, discloses a cinching latch assembly for a tailgate, in which a release actuator 1 is mounted on a latch device 2, and a separate cinching actuator 3 is connected by a cable 4, such that a latch is unlocked from a striker (not illustrated in the drawing) of a vehicle body by the release actuator 1 in order to open the tailgate in a closed state, and in order to completely close the tailgate (not illustrated) in a state in which the latch in the latch device 2 for a tailgate performs a half turn in a first step and engages with the striker, the cable 4 is pulled by the cinching actuator 3 so that the latch of the latch device completely engages with the striker in a second step.
The cinching actuator serves to prevent an accident that may occur when the tailgate is opened while the vehicle travels at a high speed in a case in which a user such as a female or an old or weak person, who does not have sufficient strength, operates the tailgate, and the tailgated is locked in a state in which the striker is not fully locked to a full latching state because of insufficient force to close the tailgate.
Because the release actuator and the cinching actuator need to be separately provided to open and close the tailgate in the related art, it was necessary to improve a structure in order to reduce manufacturing costs. In addition, a gear structure for a cinching actuator in the related art has a structure that just increases a driving gear ratio of a worm gear, and as a result, a size of a driving gear needs to be increased to produce higher force by using the motor. However, the increase in size of the driving gear causes an increase in weight and size of the gear structure, and as a result, the sized of the driving gear cannot be increased because of a limited and narrow space between the tailgate and an inner trim. Therefore, it is necessary to improve a structure of the actuator that may be installed at a limited location between the tailgate and the inner trim, and may obtain increased output.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.